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High-Efficiency Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells Enabled by a Mg3(PO4)2/MgF2 Stack with Over 23% Power Conversion
Hongyu Dun1,2,3,4, Zhiyuan Xu1,2,3,4, Yu Yan1,2,3,4
1Institute of Photoelectronic Thin Film Devices and Technology of Nankai University, Tianjin, 300350, China.
Small (Weinheim an Der Bergstrasse, Germany)
|December 15, 2025
Summary
Magnesium phosphate (Mg3(PO4)2) is a promising new electron-selective transport layer for dopant-free silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells. This material enhances power conversion efficiency, reaching up to 23.25% in optimized devices.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Photovoltaics
- Solid-State Physics
Background:
- Dopant-free silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells present advantages like reduced costs and simplified processing.
- Research is actively exploring novel materials to enhance SHJ solar cell performance.
- Electron-selective transport layers (ESTLs) are crucial for efficient charge extraction in solar cells.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate magnesium phosphate (Mg3(PO4)2) as a novel electron-selective transport layer (ESTL) for dopant-free SHJ solar cells.
- To evaluate the performance of Mg3(PO4)2, both as a standalone layer and in conjunction with MgF2.
- To assess the impact of Mg3(PO4)2 on the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of SHJ solar cells.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication and characterization of Mg3(PO4)2 thin films.
- Measurement of work function (WF) and contact resistivity (ρc) of the Mg3(PO4)2 layer.
- Integration of Mg3(PO4)2 and Mg3(PO4)2/MgF2 stacks into full-rear-contact SHJ solar cell architectures.
- Performance testing of fabricated solar cells, including power conversion efficiency (PCE) measurements.
Main Results:
- Mg3(PO4)2 exhibited a work function of 3.64 eV and a contact resistivity of 67.00 mΩ cm².
- A Mg3(PO4)2/MgF2 stack demonstrated superior performance compared to individual layers.
- SHJ solar cells incorporating the Mg3(PO4)2/MgF2 stack achieved a PCE of 22.88%.
- Devices with Mg3(PO4)2 on the light-incident side and MgF2 as anti-reflection coating reached a PCE of 23.25%.
Conclusions:
- Magnesium phosphate (Mg3(PO4)2) is an effective electron-selective material for silicon solar cells.
- The Mg3(PO4)2/MgF2 stack shows significant potential for enhancing SHJ solar cell performance.
- Mg3(PO4)2 is a promising ternary compound ESTL for developing high-efficiency silicon solar cells.
Keywords:
Mg3(PO4)2/MgF2electron selective transport layerself‐diffusion effectsilicon heterojunction solar cellsMore Related Videos
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